Moga with Dr Peter Nortier

Moga with Dr Peter Nortier

The Prophecy of Daniel

The Seventy Weeks Prophecy: World Turmoil, the Incarnation of Messiah, and Redemption in Christ

Dr. Peter Nortier expounds on Daniel's seventy weeks prophecy, examining the parallel between ancient turmoil and modern events while calling sinners to find reconciliation and propitiation through Jesus Christ.

Daniel's Prophetic Panorama and Modern Turmoil

Dr. Peter Nortier opens the service by directing the congregation to Daniel chapter nine, setting out the famous prophecy of the seventy weeks given through the angel Gabriel. He explains that Daniel prayed while awaiting divine intervention in human affairs, having understood from the writings of Jeremiah the prophet that the seventy years of Jerusalem's desolations were reaching fulfillment. Nortier highlights the historical backdrop of Daniel outliving Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar amid the sudden collapse of the Babylonian Empire to the Medes and Persians. Drawing a sharp parallel to contemporary history, he notes the recent collapse of communism and the widespread exodus of Jewish people departing Russia for Israel, comparing it to the biblical exodus out of Egypt under Moses. Nortier cautions that rising global turmoil signals approaching divine judgment, insisting that believers must remain alert to scripture and anticipate God's imminent intervention in the affairs of mankind.

Signs of the Times and Broadcast Growth

Turning to Mark chapter thirteen, Nortier outlines the prophetic signposts preceding the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, pointing to international warfare and earthquakes occurring in unusual places. He recalls personally experiencing rare tremors in Michigan and Little Rock, Arkansas, declaring that the biblical beginnings of sorrows are unfolding across the globe. He then cites Second Timothy chapter three, lamenting the profound spiritual apostasy infiltrating modern churches where professing believers love pleasures more than God and abandon regular worship. Despite surrounding spiritual declension, Nortier celebrates the rapid expansion of the radio ministry of the Mercies of God Association. He announces new weekend broadcast openings in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Battle Creek, Michigan, alongside continuing programming over powerful stations in Flint and across the Canadian border on CKLW, urging the local congregation to assist in tape duplication and faithful prayer support.

Vigilance in Darkness and Suing for Mercy

Reading from Luke chapter twelve, Nortier instructs believers to keep their lamps burning and wait diligently for their returning Lord. He reflects on his wartime military service, recalling the chilling loneliness of standing guard duty during the third watch between midnight and dawn, and compares that dark hour to the current spiritual condition of the world. Rather than retreating into apathy, Christians must emulate Daniel by actively engaging in earnest prayer, supplication, and fasting. Nortier notes how Gabriel was commanded to fly swiftly to answer Daniel during the evening oblation because Daniel was greatly beloved in heaven. He urges church members to witness boldly to coworkers and vigorously sue for divine mercy on behalf of their nation and neighboring Canada. He maintains that believers remain the salt of the earth, called to uphold biblical truth uncompromisingly even in the face of escalating hostility and persecution.

The Incarnation of Messiah the Prince

Focusing on Daniel chapter nine, verses twenty-four and twenty-five, Nortier introduces the redemptive aspect of the seventy weeks prophecy, centering on the revelation of Messiah the Prince. He clarifies that humanity's fallen carnal nature stands at direct enmity against God, tracing spiritual alienation back to Adam's original transgression in the Garden of Eden where rebellion brought immediate spiritual death. Because offended humanity could never bridge the chasm to a holy God, a divine mediator was required to reconcile both parties. Nortier connects Daniel's messianic timeline directly to the doctrine of the incarnation, citing Isaiah chapter seven to affirm that Christ had to be born of a virgin while remaining fully God and fully man. He reminds the congregation that without the shedding of innocent blood there is no remission of sin, establishing Christ's coming in human flesh as the bedrock foundation of biblical salvation.

Crucifixion, Propitiation, and Reconciliation to God

Examining Daniel chapter nine, verse twenty-seven, Nortier explains how the Messiah causes sacrifice and oblation to cease in the midst of the prophetic week through His crucifixion. He references Matthew chapter twenty-seven, where the temple veil tore from top to bottom at Christ's death, permanently abolishing the ceremonial animal sacrifices of the Old Testament. Correcting popular tradition, Nortier argues that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday afternoon rather than Good Friday, fulfilling the biblical timeframe of being in the grave until His glorious resurrection. Moving to Romans chapter three and chapter five, he defines propitiation as total satisfaction rendered to God's holy justice through Christ's shed blood on the cross. Nortier emphasizes that justification freely pardons guilty sinners, insisting that every person must experience genuine reconciliation with the Lord rather than relying on human morality, religion, or empty intellectual knowledge.

Death Row Faith and the Urgent Call

To illustrate the urgency of personal redemption, Nortier shares an account from evangelist Roy Gustafson visiting a Jamaican prison where thirteen men were awaiting execution on death row. He recounts how an illiterate inmate in his fifties, scheduled to hang the following Tuesday, wept in deep conviction upon a dirt floor as Gustafson explained salvation and sang about belonging to Jesus. Transformed by divine grace, the condemned man memorized the hymn, sang it joyfully on his way to the gallows, and shook the prison witnesses with his confident faith. Nortier applies the story directly to the listeners, warning that physical death is certain and eternity is at stake for every unregenerate soul. Dismissing altar calls or church membership as substitutes for repentance, he urges individuals to sue for mercy immediately before leading the congregation in singing Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling.

Moga with Dr Peter Nortier

The Characteristics of a Soldier of God

Characteristics of a Soldier: Enlisting in the Army of the Lord and Enduring Hardness

Dr. Peter Nortier preaches on Second Timothy chapter two, examining the recruitment, discipline, and warfare of a Christian soldier and urging believers not to remain raw recruits in God's army.

Recruitment into the Army of the Lord

Dr. Peter Nortier opens the service by directing the congregation to Second Timothy chapter two, reading verses one through four where the Apostle Paul commands Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. He explains that conversion places a person into the army of the Lord, yet most believers remain raw recruits throughout their lives rather than developing into disciplined soldiers. After leading the room in prayer, Nortier outlines the recruitment process, stressing that God Himself chooses each soldier before the foundation of the world. He contrasts this sovereign choice with humanity's fallen condition, recalling that he grew up with three brothers who died in their sins while God showed unmerited mercy to him. He insists that salvation is an experiential reality initiated entirely by God's irresistible grace, cautioning listeners that nobody volunteers for God's army by personal merit or natural goodness, but only through divine appointment.

Hearing the Voice of God at Natural Bridge

Nortier turns to John chapter ten to emphasize that true conversion requires personally hearing the voice of God calling His sheep by name. He recounts visiting Natural Bridge earlier that morning and rejecting the park center claim that the gorge took five hundred million years to form, stating God shaped the earth in six days or during the global flood. While at the information counter, he questioned a sixty-eight-year-old worker about his confidence in going to heaven. When the man replied that he behaved himself, Nortier told him that moral conduct is insufficient without the Lord Jesus Christ. He challenges sovereign grace believers who use divine election as an excuse to abandon evangelism, insisting that true soldiers labor to reach lost sheep. Citing his own survival through several close brushes with death as an unsaved Baptist preacher, he reminds the congregation that God preserves and separates His elect for His sovereign purposes.

Traumatic Conviction and Godly Sorrow

Reading from Second Corinthians chapter seven, verses nine through eleven, Nortier explains that recruitment involves a traumatic inward awakening called godly sorrow, which produces genuine repentance. He rejects shallow evangelistic appeals and dry-eyed professions where people simply walk a church aisle to shake a preacher's hand. True Holy Spirit conviction directly affects the intellect, emotions, and rebellious human will, breaking an individual's pride until they view themselves as helpless and deserving of eternal condemnation. He asserts that God never coerces a sinner against his will but sovereignly makes him willing in the day of His divine power. Quoting the hymn Under the Blood of Jesus, Nortier declares that every true recruit is washed in Christ's redeeming blood, granted a pleasant approach to the throne of grace in prayer, and schooled in the foundational doctrines of divine sovereignty, total depravity, blood atonement, grace, and the Holy Spirit.

A Special Witness and Basic Training Discipline

Turning to Luke chapter twenty-four, Nortier highlights Christ's commission that repentance and remission of sins be preached among all nations, noting that the Greek word for witness means martyr. A believer cannot witness to repentance without experiencing it personally. He then shifts to the rigorous basic training every recruit must endure under the guidance of scripture and pastoral oversight. Illustrating military discipline, he mentions a young Louisiana woman entering military service who will be forbidden from telephoning home for three weeks to learn obedience. Reading Romans chapter twelve and Second Timothy chapter one, Nortier contrasts the blinded mind of the unsaved world with the renewed, sound mind given to believers. He warns that Christian soldiers must surrender their thoughts to Christ rather than Satan, rejecting the proud claim that sinners give up anything of value to come to the Savior.

Enforcing Obedience and Taking Up Whole Armor

Nortier recalls his own military training sixty years earlier in Miami Beach, where a misbehaving recruit was forced to march in eighty-degree heat for three solid hours wearing a heavy wool overcoat, uniform, gas mask, rifle, and a twenty-pound pack. He compares military discipline to God taking His disobedient children to the woodshed to teach genuine submission. Turning to Ephesians chapter six, verse ten, he instructs the congregation to put on the whole armor of God, emphasizing that Roman battle armor contains no protection for the back because soldiers are never commanded to retreat. He compares defensive readiness to offensive warfare, recalling learning to handle a Garand rifle and a Thompson submachine gun as an eighteen-year-old service recruit. Pastors must patiently train newborn believers as they mature, grounding them in scripture so they can stand firm against the seductions of the adversary.

Pressing Toward the Mark without Mediocrity

Concluding with Philippians chapter three, Nortier reads Paul's declaration to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He rebukes popular religious television broadcasts that tolerate demonic compromise and spiritual doubt, contrasting modern pulpit timidity with the resolve of American troops serving in Iraq. He recounts speaking with Marines at a naval base in Fort Worth who demonstrated fierce devotion to their mission. Quoting Charles Spurgeon, Nortier reminds the church to work as though everything depends on human effort while trusting entirely in God. Citing an elderly mother in Buena Vista who received only one pastoral visit, he urges believers to engage their neighborhoods directly with prayer and gospel witness. He laments that only three church members read through their Bibles the previous year, warning against remaining mediocre soldiers and urging immediate repentance.

Moga with Dr Peter Nortier

The Price of Illicit Sex and David's Downfall

The Price of Illicit Sex: David, Bathsheba, and the Downfall of a Saint

Dr. Peter Nortier preaches from Second Samuel eleven on David's adultery with Bathsheba, tracing the steps that led a man after God's own heart into sin, murder, and broken fellowship, and warning any believer that the same downfall can happen to them.

Opening Scripture and a Timely Question

Dr. Peter Nortier opens the broadcast by telling the congregation that tonight's study in Second Samuel chapter eleven will show David's downfall, and that everyone ought to hear it. He recalls a woman stopping him earlier that day to ask whether a professing Christian living in adultery could truly be saved, and he answers plainly that something is wrong, since God's people cannot continue that way. He concedes David committed adultery but stresses that David did not remain in that condition, and that God judged him severely for it. He then asks the congregation to stand as he reads Second Samuel chapter eleven, verses one through ten, the account of David staying behind in Jerusalem while his army fights, seeing Bathsheba washing from his rooftop, and sending for her. He closes the opening with a prayer asking God for listening ears, for strength for believers, and for blessing on those hearing the broadcast over the radio, then invites everyone to sit for the message.

Gods Design For Sex In Marriage

Nortier announces his subject as the price of illicit sex and says the lesson will first examine what God says about sex between husband and wife, a subject he says churches fail to teach amid what he calls a sex-crazed society. He reads Genesis chapter two on God forming Eve from Adam's rib and declaring the two one flesh, insisting woman was made for man and resisting any modern reversal of that order. Turning to First Corinthians chapter seven, he reads that husband and wife each owe the other due benevolence toward the body, rejecting the claim that a woman's body belongs to her alone. He adds First Corinthians chapter eleven on covering and glory, then reads Hebrews chapter thirteen that marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled, while whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. He tells the congregation sex within marriage is beautiful, meant for enjoyment and procreation, citing Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis twenty-five, but that sex outside marriage, even before a wedding, is fornication in God's sight.

David Sees Bathsheba And Sends For Her

Nortier returns to the text, retelling how David, a man after God's own heart, stayed home instead of leading his army, slept through the afternoon, and rose in the evening to walk on his roof, where he saw Bathsheba washing herself. He says David sent and inquired after her, learned she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and still sent messengers who brought her to him, where he lay with her and she conceived. Nortier insists a believer can fall into grievous sin after conversion, and he warns the congregation never to assume it cannot happen to them, telling of a man he knows who blamed God after being refused by a woman he wished to marry and has not attended church since. He calls this laxity with regard to duty the first step toward David's downfall, reading Matthew twenty-five's parable of the virgins who slumbered while the bridegroom tarried and applying it to a sleeping modern church that neglects evangelism and visitation.

Lust, Murder, And Broken Commandments

Nortier names looking and lusting after forbidden things as David's second downfall, reading how David inquired after Bathsheba despite learning she belonged to Uriah, and he warns against anything that invites temptation, naming the Ouija board as something no believer should touch. He quotes James chapter one that lust, once conceived, brings forth sin, and sin finished brings forth death. He then describes the spoiling of Bathsheba's virtue and the murder that followed, reading David's letter ordering Joab to place Uriah in the hottest part of the battle and withdraw so he would die. Nortier says one sin always leads to another, pointing to David and to Peter's denial of Christ as proof that sin spares no one, however great. He counts five commandments David broke in the episode, coveting, lying, adultery, murder, and dishonoring God his father, warning that every listener breaks commandments too, were it not for grace reaching deeper than sin's stain.

Separation From Fellowship With God

Nortier turns to the consequence of David's sin, reading Second Samuel eleven, verse twenty-seven, that the thing David had done displeased the Lord, and noting David lived under that displeasure for roughly a year before God dealt with him. He reads Isaiah chapter fifty-nine on iniquities separating a person from God and sins hiding his face, applying it to any believer who sins and loses fellowship with the Lord. He illustrates how easily a day can slip away with a story of an early phone call from relatives in Prince Edward Island that kept him from going back to sleep, crediting such distractions to Satan and urging the congregation to stay on guard. Reading First John chapter one, he explains that fellowship with God depends on walking in the light, and that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses sin only for those who walk there rather than in darkness, insisting sin always severs a good relationship with God until it is confessed and judged.

Nathans Rebuke And Gods Chastening

Nortier reads Second Samuel chapter twelve, where Nathan the prophet confronts David with a parable before declaring, Thou art the man, and recounts how dread filled David's heart as true repentance began. He reads Hebrews chapter twelve on enduring the chastening of the Lord, insisting God disciplines every son he receives and that anyone living in known sin without any chastening has never truly been converted. He sets out three categories under God's sovereignty: those allowed to sin grievously before salvation, like the drunkards and whoremongers of First Corinthians six, believers like David and Peter allowed to fall after salvation, and others kept from such falls who must still take heed. He tells of a woman in her fifties who moved in with a boyfriend and complained she could no longer sing in the choir, saying he would remove any sinning member from a position of authority until they repent. He closes promising David was later forgiven, and asks the congregation to stand.

Moga with Dr Peter Nortier

Drinking at the Fountain of Grace: The Woman of Samaria and the Waterpots That Never Satisfy

Dr. Peter Nortier continues his series on John chapter four, preaching on "Drinking at the Fountain of Grace" and showing how the waterpots of religion, lust, education, money, and government leave every heart thirsty until it drinks of Christ.

Opening Reading and the Subject

Dr. Peter Nortier opens the broadcast by asking the congregation to turn to John chapter four and to stand as he reads verses one through fifteen, the account of Jesus meeting the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well. He announces the subject as Drinking at the Fountain of Grace, telling listeners that being saved does not end the believer's need to keep drinking from that fountain through daily communion with the Lord. He describes his own forty-five minute walk earlier that morning, saying he spent the time talking with the Lord about everyone in the congregation, and he urges anyone without a regular time alone with God to make one, warning it will be one of the hardest habits to build. After a short prayer asking God to open understanding, he seats the congregation and outlines three parts to the lesson ahead: the woman of Samaria herself, the fountain of grace pictured in water, and finally the likelihood of that grace for every listener.

Outside the Promises of God

Nortier turns to the first point of the lesson, that the woman of Samaria pictures every person outside the Lord Jesus Christ. He insists that only those who know Christ as Lord and Savior are under grace, while everyone else remains under God's law, and he reads Ephesians chapter two, verses eleven through thirteen, on Gentiles once without Christ, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. He rejects the popular claim that everyone today is automatically under grace, saying people want God's promises without wanting his restrictions or his lordship. Turning to Ephesians chapter four, he reads of Gentiles walking in the vanity of their mind with understanding darkened. He recalls a deacon's wife, a preacher's own daughter, who was only saved last week, insisting that no amount of Christian upbringing puts a person under grace until they personally know Christ, and that God alone appoints the timing of each person's conversion.

Blind to Spiritual Values and the Jews

Nortier moves to the woman's claim in verse twenty that her fathers worshipped on this mountain while the Jews say Jerusalem is the place to worship, calling it evidence that she was blind to spiritual values, just as many are today. He compares her reasoning to people who pray to the moon under a full moon, worship trees, or worship what he calls mother Earth, and to those who insist one church is as good as another. He insists the Bible is the supreme authority and that anything contrary to it is wrong. Reading the Lord's reply that the hour comes when worship will be neither in that mountain nor at Jerusalem, and that salvation is of the Jews, Nortier stresses that the only Savior God ever provided is a Jew, and he warns that anyone who hates the Jews should examine whether they have truly been converted. He adds that the gospel remains hidden only to those who are lost, tying the woman's blindness directly to the condition of unbelievers listening that morning.

The Sixth Hour and the Waterpot of Religion

Nortier turns to the third mark of the woman, that she was continually thirsty, noting the detail in verse six that she came to the well at the sixth hour. He sets aside the common explanation that other women shunned her, saying instead that six is the number of man and that the hour marks God's own appointment for this harlot to meet Christ, just as God appoints a time and place for every unsaved listener. He then returns to a theme from an earlier message, the different waterpots people carry, beginning with the waterpot of religion. Reading Second Timothy chapter three, verse seven, on being ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, he describes people who master election, the Ten Commandments, or prophecy yet never learn how God saves a sinner. He insists the real question is not church membership but whether a listener personally knows Christ, and that believers are baptized because of salvation, never for it.

The Waterpots of Lust, Education, Money, and Government

Nortier turns to the waterpot of lust, reading John chapter four, verses sixteen and seventeen, where Jesus tells the woman to call her husband and she admits having none, though she has had five husbands and now lives with a sixth man who is not her husband. He says the exchange struck home because it exposed that lust never satisfies, comparing her repeated unions to modern couples who cohabit or to movie stars who drift from partner to partner. He then names the waterpot of education, reading Ecclesiastes chapter one on increasing knowledge increasing sorrow, noting he holds three degrees himself but that schools which remove the Bible and substitute sex education only feed existing lust. He adds the waterpot of money, recalling a stock market drop that week and the 1929 crash that drove people to suicide, and the waterpot of government and power, reading Proverbs chapter twenty-one on the king's heart in the Lord's hand, concluding that none of these waterpots can satisfy.

The Fountain of Grace in Water

Nortier closes by showing that water, the common element Jesus used with the woman, pictures the fountain of grace, mentioning that his own town of Bryant is currently under a boil order after a contaminated water line. He walks through several comparisons: water removes thirst and preserves life, just as grace does; water softens hardened ground the way rain does, and grace softens the hardest sinner, which he ties to First Corinthians chapter six on fornicators and drunkards who were washed, sanctified, and justified; water purges filth, as grace cleanses sin's stain; and water quenches fire, which he illustrates with the Gadarene demoniac of Mark chapter five, calmed and clothed after meeting Jesus. He calls grace a never-ending spring, citing John four and Colossians two, and fruit-producing, citing Galatians five. Recalling a conversation with a young man named Danny in Goodsprings, Alabama, he insists grace is abundant for every true seeker, and he closes in prayer asking God to make the thirsty desire to drink.

Moga with Dr Peter Nortier

The Woman of Samaria 1

The Woman at Jacob's Well: Predestinated Grace and Living Water

Dr. Peter Nortier opens his Moga broadcast with a sermon on John chapter four, the story of Jesus meeting a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. He uses her life to describe every person outside Christ, and he presses listeners to ask whether they know the Lord personally and to share what Christ has done for them.

Opening Reading, Prayer, and the Subject

Dr. Peter Nortier opens the broadcast by asking the congregation to take their Bibles and stand as he reads John chapter four, verses one through fourteen. He announces the subject as the woman of Samaria and says the passage will occupy several weeks, asking listeners to read the whole chapter at least three or four times before the next study. After a brief prayer asking God to open hearts and understandings, he invites the congregation to be seated and sketches the geography of the land in Jesus's day. Judea lay to the south around Bethlehem and Jerusalem, Galilee to the north, and Samaria between them, and Jews travelling from Galilee to Judea would not pass through it. Nortier explains that the Samaritans were a mixed people, half Jewish, whom the Jews looked down upon, and that the two groups had no dealings with one another.

Outside Christ as a Gentile Stranger

Nortier argues that the woman of Samaria stands for every person outside the Lord Jesus Christ. He reads Ephesians chapter two, verses eleven through thirteen, on being Gentiles without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. He rejects the idea that everyone is already under grace, saying only those who know Christ personally are, and he cites Galatians on all being children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. He points to a religious leader featured on a national television program that day, arguing that religion alone does not save. Then he pauses the message with a direct question to the listener: do you know Christ, and are you depending on him alone to take you to heaven? If not, he says, you stand in the same category as the woman at the well.

A Vagabond With Six Husbands

Nortier turns to the woman's life and calls her a vagabond who would fit easily into modern society. He explains that the Old Testament Hebrew word for harlot carries the sense of a sturdy, idle beggar who flits from place to place. Quoting verses sixteen through eighteen, he notes that Jesus told her to call her husband, that she had five husbands, and that the man she now lived with was not her husband, which he counts as the sixth. He reads Ephesians chapter four on walking as other Gentiles walk, and he states that about half of modern marriages end in divorce, with couples entering vows already planning an exit. He also warns against church-hoppers who blame every congregation for their problems, saying churches split when too many such vagabonds refuse sound doctrine. He closes the point by saying the woman's deepest need was that nobody could please her, and that she did not find the right person until the seventh, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Prejudice in Religion and Salvation of the Jews

Nortier moves to verse nineteen, where the woman tells Jesus that her fathers worshipped on the mountain while the Jews said Jerusalem was the place to worship. He hears in her words a prejudice that her religion was as good as true worship, and he applies it to the present day. Quoting First Corinthians chapter eight, verse four, he insists there is only one God, the triune God of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that every person must have a personal encounter with Christ. He names several movements and figures, among them Christian Science, Ellen White, the Baha'i faith, Confucianism, Islam, and Roman Catholic teaching on Mary, arguing that each falls short of the Lord Jesus. He rejects the claim that England and the United States are the lost tribes of Israel, and he stresses Jesus's words that salvation is of the Jews. He says he opposes not religion in general but any system that does not uphold the Lord Jesus Christ.

Waterpots of Lust, Religion, and Riches

Nortier draws on verse seven, where the woman comes to draw water at the sixth hour, to describe the waterpots people carry today. The first is the waterpot of fleshly lust, which must be refilled again and again because it never satisfies. The second is the waterpot of religion and pleasure, illustrated by Second Timothy chapter three on people having a form of godliness while denying its power, and by his observation that many church members do not attend Sunday night services or prayer meetings. He then names the waterpots of education and riches, saying he holds several degrees himself but that learning without Christ is not worth having, and he criticizes a college professor who, he says, taught that the Bible is fables. He warns that people who strive only for money often claim they cannot attend church, adding that no one earns anything without God giving the ability. Nortier concludes that every such waterpot empties and needs refilling, then shows how God dealt with the woman.

Predestinated Grace, Living Water, and Sharing

Nortier closes by showing how God reached the woman, through grace that is predestinated, sovereign, saving, and shared. He reads John chapter four, verse four, saying Jesus must needs go through Samaria, and ties it to Ephesians chapter one and the choice made before the foundation of the world. He describes sovereign grace as Jesus seeking out this one woman, and he recounts the Philippian jailer's conversion as another instance of God's appointed timing. Jesus arrested her by speaking, awakened her sense of guilt through the law, and answered the longing in her heart with living water. Nortier says the woman, once revealed to as the Messiah, left her waterpot and ran to tell the city, 'Come, see a man.' He urges listeners to make five contacts each week, asking people whether they are ready to meet the Lord, and insists that a personal encounter with Christ is the only true basis of hope. He ends the broadcast with a prayer, inviting any who have drifted to return to the Lord.

Moga with Dr Peter Nortier

The Sanctification of the Spirit: New Birth, a New Nature, and a Life Set Apart

Dr. Peter Nortier continues his study of the doctrine of sanctification, preaching this Sunday on the sanctification of the Spirit and illustrating it with his own conversion story, a Civil Air Patrol Christmas party, and a visitor's conversation about cremation.

Two Scripture Readings Open the Service

Dr. Peter Nortier asks the congregation to remain seated and turn first to Second Thessalonians chapter two, verses thirteen and fourteen, then to First Peter chapter one, verses one through three, reading both passages aloud on how God has chosen believers to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. He leads an opening prayer asking for guidance, unction, and direction as the service unfolds. He then names the morning's subject as the sanctification of the Spirit, continuing an ongoing study of the doctrine of sanctification, and reminds the congregation that he is a doctrinal preacher who has laid out seven major doctrines around which all others revolve. He explains that doctrine simply means teaching and that no one present knows everything the Bible contains. He outlines that the lesson will fall into two parts, first the meaning of the term sanctification and then its application in the believer's heart, before returning once more to the Thessalonians text.

The New Birth and a Changed Life

Nortier turns to Ephesians chapter two, verse ten, and to Jesus's words to Nicodemus that a man must be born again to see the kingdom of God, explaining that sanctification's first meaning is a supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit that creates the sinner anew rather than merely reforming the old heart. He describes every true believer as having two natures, the old Adamic nature and a new one implanted by grace, and reads Ephesians chapter four on putting off the old man and putting on the new. He illustrates the change with his own testimony, recalling how before his conversion he ran with the wrong crowd, came home at two-thirty in the morning reeking of a brewery, and was repeatedly locked out by his mother, until conversion stopped the behavior entirely. He reads Second Corinthians chapter five, verse seventeen, on old things passing away and all things becoming new, crediting the transformation entirely to the sanctification of God the Holy Spirit rather than his own effort.

A Changed Relationship With the Ungodly

Nortier presents a second meaning of sanctification, a vital change in a believer's relationship to the ungodly, reading First Peter chapter four, verses three and four, on former lives of excess and the surprise unbelievers feel when believers no longer join their riot. He recalls his years working with the Civil Air Patrol in Michigan, where at a Christmas party a drinking man proposed a toast to both Jesus Christ and Santa Claus. Nortier refused the toast outright, insisting the two do not belong on the same plane, and says his steady presence eventually changed the gatherings so that later invitations carried the initials B-Y-O-B, meaning attendees had to bring their own liquor rather than have it provided, effectively ending the group's drinking. He recounts the commander later admitting the change happened because the chaplain was present. Nortier presents the episode as proof that sanctification by the Holy Spirit visibly alters how believers are perceived by and relate to those around them who are not saved.

The Spirit's Indwelling and God's Law

Nortier describes a third meaning of sanctification, the Holy Spirit taking up his abode within believers and making them holy, citing Second Corinthians chapter one on being sealed and given the earnest of the Spirit, and Galatians chapter four on the Spirit of God's Son crying Abba, Father in the hearts of adopted sons. He then gives a fourth meaning, the bringing of the heart into conformity with God's divine law, reading Hebrews chapter nine on the blood of Christ purging the conscience from dead works. He explains that the law disclosed sin, telling children they know it is wrong to sass their parents because God's law says so, before serving as a schoolmaster leading sinners to Christ, after which believers are no longer under its condemnation. Turning to Romans chapter eight, verses thirty-one through thirty-four, he declares that believers are positionally made perfect in Christ through union with him, so that neither the law, the devil, nor their own sin can bring any charge against them.

Temple, Cremation, and a Nation's Condition

Moving to the personal aspect of sanctification, Nortier reads First Corinthians chapter six, verses nineteen and twenty, on the body as the temple of the Holy Ghost bought with a price, and recounts a conversation with a visiting woman whose son-in-law and, she said, the preacher Chuck Swindoll favored cremation. Nortier tells her cremation is a heathen custom and an insult to God, citing Abraham's purchase of a burial plot for Sarah at Hebron as the biblical pattern of honoring the body. He then turns to the experimental aspect, reading Romans chapter seven, verse twenty-two, on delighting in the law of God, and argues parents must exercise authority over children until age eighteen rather than let children lead the household, criticizing families who attend church only because a child insists. He reads Isaiah chapter three, verses four and five, on children ruling as princes and the young behaving proudly against their elders, calling it an accurate description of the present condition of society that God's people cannot accept.

The Triune Work and a Closing Charge

Nortier shows that sanctification is the work of the triune God, reading Ephesians chapter one on the Father's predestinating love, Hebrews chapter thirteen on Christ sanctifying the people with his own blood, and returning to Second Thessalonians on sanctification by the Spirit. He reads Titus chapter three on the washing of regeneration and illustrates forgiven sin with an ancient Greek practice of melting a wax debt tablet smooth, so the debt is completely obliterated. He recalls asking Brother Clinton, before he left to sing at another church, about a song declaring that Jesus is not much to this world but is everything to a believer. Nortier says he would rather pastor a small, spiritually growing congregation than a large one of uncertain commitment, reporting his own church is growing spiritually rather than numerically. He closes by asking listeners whether they know Christ and are living for him, praying that unbelievers will be touched, and leads the congregation in a final prayer thanking God for the completeness of salvation and asking the Spirit to move upon them.

Moga with Dr Peter Nortier

Sanctified By Faith: Regeneration, Mercy, and a Peculiar People

Dr. Peter Nortier preaches on the doctrine of sanctification, moving from Paul's testimony in Acts 26 through Titus, Hebrews, and Peter, and illustrating God's mercy with a Mississippi asylum conversion and a morning spent with Civil Air Patrol pilots running a search-and-rescue exercise.

Paul's Testimony Before King Agrippa

Dr. Peter Nortier opens the broadcast by asking the congregation to stand and turn to Acts chapter twenty-six, reading verses sixteen through thirty-three in full. The passage recounts the Apostle Paul's testimony before King Agrippa, describing his commission to open the eyes of the Gentiles and turn them from darkness to light, and his exchange with Festus and Agrippa, who tells Paul he is almost persuaded to be a Christian. Nortier reads through Agrippa's declaration that Paul could have been set free had he not appealed to Caesar. He then leads the congregation in prayer, asking God to open understanding, bless the hour, and glorify Himself through the message. Before beginning the sermon proper, Nortier corrects himself, noting he had misspoken the chapter and verse count, and identifies the day's subject as the doctrine of sanctification, pointing the congregation to verse eighteen as the key text for the message that follows.

Regeneration Explained As The New Birth

Nortier turns to the key verse, Acts twenty-six eighteen, which speaks of opening eyes, turning people from darkness to light, and giving forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith. He explains that regeneration, salvation, and the new birth all describe the same mysterious work, comparing it to conception, since a person does not know regeneration has happened until the results appear. He tells listeners that age does not matter, saying a six-year-old is old enough to be saved and a sixty-year-old should have been saved long ago. Turning to Titus chapter three, verses five through seven, he reads that God saves not by works of righteousness but by his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, so that believers are justified by grace and made heirs of eternal life. He stresses that only God, never a person, can regenerate a heart.

A Pure Heart And An Obliterated Past

The sermon moves to Hebrews chapter ten, verse twenty-two, where believers are described as drawing near with a true heart, having their hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Nortier explains that conviction opens every closet of the heart and exposes hidden guilt, and that if God does not save a person under such conviction, the weight of it can drive someone to breakdown. He illustrates this with a story from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, about a man whose family committed him to an insane asylum during deep conviction, where he read his Bible, was saved, and later refused to leave because his relatives, not he, needed correcting. Nortier likens the account to the Philippian jailer. He then describes salvation as an obliteration of sin, borrowing the image of an ancient wax debt tablet melted clean, and reads Isaiah thirty-eight, verse seventeen, on God casting sins behind His back so that He will never look on them again.

Blinded Minds And A Rescue Mission

Nortier explains a second aspect of regeneration, a purifying of the understanding so believers are no longer blinded by Satan, citing First Corinthians chapter two, verse fourteen, that the natural man cannot receive spiritual things, and Second Corinthians chapter four, verses three and four, on the god of this world blinding unbelieving minds. He notes that education alone never guarantees knowledge of the Bible, recalling a preacher with only a third-grade education who outknew seminary graduates, and points to Paul's own blindness before Damascus as proof only God can open a closed mind. Turning to First John chapter two, verses fifteen through seventeen, he warns against loving the world. He then recounts preaching that morning in Hot Springs to Civil Air Patrol pilots and aircrew running a search-and-rescue exercise for a missing flier, telling the airmen the Bible is full of God's own search-and-rescue missions, citing David's recovery of all in First Samuel, and reporting that several men responded with visible gratitude.

The Privileges Of Sanctification

Returning to the text's promise of being sanctified by faith, Nortier outlines several aspects of sanctification. From First Peter chapter two, verses nine and ten, he describes believers as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a peculiar people, calling this a position of honor to which God has appointed His people and a state of purity purchased by Christ. From Second Peter chapter one, verse four, he adds an enduement given by the Holy Spirit, making believers partakers of the divine nature, and criticizes preachers and modernists who claim everyone already carries a piece of God within them. Turning to Philippians chapter three, verses ten through fourteen, he presents a standard of moral purity to aim at, quoting Paul's determination to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus, and urges listeners not to dwell on past sin, citing Lamentations on mercies being new every morning.

Faith As The Instrument Of Sanctification

In closing, Nortier defines faith as the true instrument of sanctification, distinct from mere fleshly confidence, using an illustration from a Wednesday Bible study where a congregation trusted a bench's strength without ever testing it. He describes faith as the eye that perceives God's gracious provisions, the hand that appropriates them, and the mouth that receives what God has stored up for His people, again citing First Peter chapter two on being chosen and called out of darkness. He explains that the word peculiar means God has drawn a circle around His people and claimed them as His own, rejecting the notion that peculiarity means outdated dress or appearance. He states the threefold purpose of every person as knowing God, enjoying Him, and glorifying Him forever, and warns that Satan will try to destroy believers' confidence and joy. The broadcast ends with Nortier leading the congregation in a closing prayer asking God to strengthen believers and save the lost.

Moga - Mercies Of God Association with Dr. Peter Nortier

The Bedrock of God's Purpose

Predestined Purpose: Israel, the Elect, and the Sovereignty of God

Summary

Predestination as God's Blueprint

The sermon defines predestination as God's determination beforehand and presents it as the foundation of His eternal purpose. Drawing from Ephesians 1, Pastor Nortier argues that God's plan precedes the foundation of the world and will be accomplished according to the counsel of His will. He also cites the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith as a historical expression of this doctrine.

Israel as a Nation Before God

The first major application concerns Israel's place in the speaker's understanding of biblical prophecy. Jeremiah 31 is used to argue that Israel will remain a nation before God, despite centuries of persecution and attempts to destroy the Jewish people. The preacher presents Israel as occupying a central place in latter-day history.

The Promised Land and Israel's Messiah

Genesis 15 is cited as the basis for the claim that Israel will inherit the land promised through Abraham and reiterated through Isaac. Zechariah is used to describe Jerusalem as a burdensome stone for the nations and to identify the pierced Messiah. Luke 1 is then presented as confirmation that Jesus will receive David's throne and reign over the house of Jacob.

The Salvation of God's Elect

The sermon teaches that Christ died for God's elect, who were chosen before the foundation of the world and will be called through the preaching of the gospel. Repentance and faith are described as gifts conferred through grace rather than achievements earned by human effort. Salvation is therefore portrayed as wholly God's work and wholly a work of grace.

Good Works and Christian Witness

Ephesians 2 is used to distinguish salvation by grace from the good works that follow salvation. Believers are urged to pray for the salvation of the elect and speak to neighbors, friends, relatives, and associates about Christ. The preacher argues that confidence in God's purpose should strengthen evangelistic effort rather than produce inactivity.

Mercy, Judgment, and the Closing Appeal

The final section turns to God's purpose concerning the wicked and uses Pharaoh in Romans 9 as an example of divine mercy and hardening. The preacher says that judgment displays God's justice while salvation displays the glory of His grace. He closes by urging listeners to ask whether God has shown them mercy and to pray that the Lord will reveal their need for Christ.

Moga - Mercies Of God Association with Dr. Peter Nortier

A Look at the Purpose of God

God's Purpose in Preservation, Suffering, and the Journey Home

Summary

God's Sovereign Purpose

The preacher centers the sermon on the conviction that God acts with purpose and is neither frustrated nor hurried. Using Genesis 46, he argues that Jacob's move into Egypt was not merely permitted by God but directed by God. He presents the journey as part of a plan established long before the events unfolded. This theme is applied personally to believers, with the preacher urging them to view difficult circumstances as events through which divine purpose may be worked out. He also frames judgment and salvation as parts of God's larger purpose, while repeatedly calling listeners to take their relationship with God seriously.

Israel Preserved in Egypt

The sermon explains that Israel was sent into Egypt during famine for preservation. Joseph's position under Pharaoh becomes central to the preacher's argument because Joseph had authority to provide food, protection, and a place for his family. The land of Goshen is described as a specially secured place where Jacob's household could live despite the Egyptians' disdain for shepherds. The preacher interprets these circumstances as evidence that God's directive will was being fulfilled. He emphasizes that what might appear unfavorable from a human perspective could still serve a protective purpose within God's plan.

Purpose Through Trial

The preacher applies Israel's experience to personal hardship, especially illness, stress, and unwanted changes in circumstances. He suggests that suffering may draw believers closer to God, create opportunities to witness to others, or demonstrate faith to people watching them endure difficulty. The story of Grandma Waller serves as the main personal illustration: despite advanced age and placement in a rest home, she is described as accepting her circumstances and continuing to attend church and encourage others. The preacher contrasts her attitude with complaining and self-pity. His larger point is that believers should look for purpose rather than assume adversity means God has abandoned them.

Joseph as a Portrait of Christ

A major section of the sermon treats Joseph as a picture of Jesus Christ. The preacher compares Joseph's rejection, suffering, elevation, and role in preserving his family with Christ's rejection, death, resurrection, exaltation, and role in salvation. He says that, just as Joseph secured an inheritance and protection for his relatives, Christ guarantees an eternal inheritance for believers. Passages from Acts, 1 Peter, and Hebrews are used to support the themes of resurrection, exaltation, covenant, preservation, and inheritance. The preacher presents this parallel as a central portrait of the gospel contained within the Genesis account.

Affliction, Persecution, and the Believer's Journey

The sermon rejects the idea that Christian faith guarantees constant comfort, prosperity, health, or ease. Drawing from John 16, Philippians 1, and 1 Peter 4, the preacher says affliction and persecution are part of the believer's lot. At the same time, he distinguishes suffering for Christ from trouble caused by dishonesty, gossip, meddling, or other personal wrongdoing. Believers are described as pilgrims passing through the world on a journey from earth to heaven. The preacher contrasts temporary worldly wealth and popularity with the spiritual riches and satisfaction he says belong to those who are in Christ.

Invitation to Come and Go with God's People

The sermon closes with the account of Moses inviting Hobab to journey with Israel in Numbers 10. The preacher uses "come and go with us" as an evangelistic invitation to listeners who have not surrendered to Christ. He warns that the people of God are moving forward and will not turn back, so each listener must choose whether to join the journey or return to what the preacher describes as death and destruction. The closing appeal calls for repentance, trust in Christ, and identification with God's people. The final prayer asks God to move on unbelieving hearts, strengthen believers, and help the congregation remain faithful as it continues its journey.

Moga - Mercies Of God Association with Dr. Peter Nortier

Barabbas A Symbol Of Antichrist